[Kirsch, 1991: 74f, on Giangaleazzo's funeral eulogy in 1402:] “The Duke of Milan and Count of Virtues, whose ensign in life had been the rays of the sun, said Petrus [de Castelletto, Augustinian friar], would in death receive a radiant crown terminating in twelve stars, each representing one of his virtues; the crown, moreover, would be none other than that described in Revelations 12:1 as belonging to the Woman of the Apocalypse.”

Its not too much of a reach to see the PMB Sun card as Giangaleazzo’s post-mortem radiant solar crown (conjoined with a death mask that would rule out one of Sforza's children) held aloft by a putto, but now signifying the apotheosis of Filippo. There are not 12 rays (12 virtues no longer emphasized but rather the standard 7 virtues in the PMB deck) but the cruciform emphasis of the rays on the PMB sun mask suggest a Christ-like resurrection. Filippo’s funeral rites were not properly recognized by the Ambrosian Republic per Filelfo (Ode IV.1.32), belatedly rectified here in the PMB card.

Thanks for posting this, Huck. In my view the meaning is that Temperance extinguishes Concupiscence. She was represented with torch and cup as early as the 9th century, in a manuscript that I talked about and you then found a picture of, with the four cardinal virtues depicted. Here is Temperance from that ms.

Katzenellenbogen, talking about this ms., says (Allegories of the virtues and vices in mediaeval art p. 55):

For more on this, including more pictures and my argument, building on Phaeded's earlier, for how, together with the medieval meaning of "stag", it clarifies the Alessandro Sforza Temperance card, see my post on the "Hermit" thread, at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=392&start=30#p14581.

If Temperance relates to any of the spheres of the elements, it seems to me most readily to be that of water. Temperance in tarot was usually not shown with a torch (although an important exception might be the Alessandro Sforza). The Demonio (demon), as it was called in the Western lists, would then be air, where demons lurked, according to Augustine and other ancient sources, and Fuoco, Fire, the sphere of fire. Death might be earth, where the body comes from and returns. This applies to the usual order of the elements, and to the Western order of trumps, as we know it from the 16th century from 1544 (Alciato) on.

I don't know of any explicit assigning of virtues to elements. Even if there is one written down someplace, there is then the question of how well it was known and whether it represents a convention or just someone's opinion. Also, I don't think we can just go by what is "logical", because there are too many possibilities.

It shows the sides of grave of the Pope Clement II in the Bamberger Dom. The sides show 4 cardinal virtues and a 5th motif (Aquarius ?), which looks as if connected to Temperantia. Kwaw himself dated the installation to c. 1240 and the German Wiki article confirms this with "mid 13th century". Pope Clement had died 1047, but the Basilica minor burnt twice in 11th and 12th century.

Completely forgotten about that, didn't recognize it all -- that's what to many years on the booze does for you I suppose b-(

Yes ...occasionally I meet something of mine and wonder, that I shall have written it once ... luckily we have the search engines. Somehow we act like Temperance ... we pour the water of our activities into another box called computer with web access. Well, and then it's there and the other box looks empty. What's that a crazy world in 2014 and even nobody of our closer ancestors could have imagined that. And even oneself has the problem to keep some overview.

I remembered then, that in my earlier Greek mythology studies I had read of a "3-seasons-model" of the Greek.

Here we would have 3 seasons, each with four months, but one season is parted in a spring/autumn period, taking the last winter month and first spring month and the last summer month and the first autumn month and this is given to mercury, the god with diplomatic function. The rest of the spring/summer months is given to the light and good Jupiter planet, and the rest of the 4 autum/winter months to the darlk and bad Mars planet,somehow a logical division, but different to our system nowadays.